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Megadeth
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 1983 by guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson, shortly after Mustaine's dismissal from Metallica. A pioneer of the American thrash metal scene, the band is credited as one of the genre's "Big Four" with Anthrax, Metallica and Slayer, responsible for thrash metal's development and popularization. Megadeth plays in a technical style, featuring fast rhythm sections and complex arrangements; themes of death, war, politics and religion are prominent in the group's lyrics. In 1985, the band released its debut album on the independent label Combat Records. The album's moderate commercial success caught the attention of bigger labels, which led to Megadeth signing with Capitol Records. Their first major-label album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986 and influenced the underground metal scene. Despite its prominence in thrash metal, frequent disputes between its members and substance abuse issues brought Megadeth negative publicity during this period. After the lineup stabilized, the band released a number of platinum-selling albums, including Rust in Peace (1990) and Countdown to Extinction (1992). These albums, along with touring worldwide, helped bring public recognition to Megadeth. The band temporarily disbanded in 2002 when Mustaine suffered an arm injury and re-established in 2004 without bassist Ellefson, who had taken legal action against Mustaine. Ellefson settled with Mustaine out of court and rejoined the group in 2010. Megadeth has hosted its own music festival, Gigantour, several times since mid-2005. As of 2014, Megadeth has sold 50 million records worldwide, earned platinum certification in the United States for five of its fourteen studio albums, and received eleven Grammy nominations. The band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, regularly appears on album artwork and, since 2010, in live shows. The group has experienced controversy over its musical approach and lyrics, including canceled concerts and album bans. MTV has refused to play two of the band's videos that the network considered to condone suicide History Formation (1983-84) Dave Mustaine was lead guitarist for Metallica when the band formed in 1981. He was a member for nearly a year and helped compose some of the group's early songs.However, before Metallica began recording its debut album, Mustaine was dismissed over substance abuse and conflicts with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.Two months later, Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson formed Megadeth in Los Angeles. Mustaine wanted the new band to play faster and heavier music than Metallica.According to Mustaine, the name "Megadeth" represents the annihilation of power. It is a misspelling of the term megadeath, meaning one million deaths by nuclear explosion. The name came from a pamphlet by California senator Alan Cranston that Mustaine found on the floor of a bus after being fired from Metallica. It read: "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid no matter what the peace treaties come to." Despite his enthusiasm, Mustaine had trouble finding other members to fill out the lineup. He and Ellefson examined about 15 drummers, hoping to find one who understood meter changes in music. In the meantime, Kerry King from Slayer filled in on lead guitar. They eventually selected Lee Rausch as drummer, and settled on Mustaine as lead vocalist after six months of searching. Mustaine was also the band's primary songwriter, lead, and rhythm guitarist. In 1984, Megadeth recorded a three-song demo tape featuring Mustaine, Ellefson, and Rausch. The demo featured early versions of "Last Rites/Loved to Death", "The Skull Beneath the Skin", and "Mechanix", all of which appeared on the band's debut album] After several performances in 1984, Megadeth replaced Rausch with jazz fusion drummer Gar Samuelson. Guitarist Chris Poland joined the group that December. After considering several labels, Mustaine signed the band to Combat Records, a New York-based independent label that offered Megadeth the highest budget to record and tour Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good (1984-85) In 1985, Combat Records gave the band $8,000 to record and produce its debut album. After spending half of the budget on drugs, alcohol, and food, the band fired the original producer and finished the recording themselves. Despite its low fidelity sound,Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! was relatively successful in underground metal circles on its release that summer and attracted major-label interest.Music writer Joel McIver praised its "blistering technicality" and stated that the album "raised the bar for the whole thrash metal scene, with guitarists forced to perform even more accurately and powerfully".The front cover marked the debut of band mascot Vic Rattlehead, who regularly appeared on subsequent album artwork. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! features "Mechanix", a song Mustaine wrote during his time with Metallica. Though Mustaine told the band after his dismissal not to use the music he had written, Metallica recorded a different version of the song entitled "The Four Horsemen", with a slower tempo and a melodic middle section.The album also included a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", at a faster tempo and with altered lyrics. Megadeth's version generated controversy during the 1990s, when its writer, Lee Hazlewood, called Mustaine's changes "vile and offensive".Under threat of legal action, the song was removed from pressings released from 1995 to 2001.n mid-1985, on a bill with Exciter, Megadeth played its first North American tour: the Killing for a Living Tour. Poland was in the band as the tour began, but abruptly left and was replaced by touring guitarist Mike Albert. Poland rejoined Megadeth in October, shortly before the group began its second album for Combat. Peace Sells...But Who's Buying! (1986-87) According to Mustaine, the band was under pressure to deliver another successful album: "That sophomore offering is the 'be-all or end-all' of any band. You either go to the next level, or it's the beginning of the nadir."The songs were developed relatively quickly in an old warehouse south of Los Angeles before recording began.Mustaine composed the music, with the other members adding arrangement ideas.Megadeth's second album was produced on a $25,000 budget from Combat Records. Dissatisfied with its financial limitations, the band left Combat and signed with Capitol Records. Capitol bought the rights to the upcoming album, and hired producer Paul Lani to remix the earlier recordings. Released in late 1986, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? has clearer production and more sophisticated songwriting.Mustaine wanted to write socially conscious lyrics, unlike mainstream heavy metal bands who sang about "hedonistic pleasures".The album was noted for its political commentary and helped Megadeth expand its fanbase.The title track was the album's lead single and was accompanied by a music video that received regular airplay on MTV. In February 1987, Megadeth was the opening act on Alice Cooper's Constrictor tour, and the following month the band began its first headlining world tour in the United Kingdom. The 72-week tour was supported by Overkill and Necros, and continued in the United States.Mustaine and Ellefson make a guest appearance on Malice's License To Kill album and the entire band returns to the studio to re-record their previous cover of "These Boots" by Lee Hazelwood. This version uses the complete song title: "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and was featured on the major motion picture soundtrack for the 1987 film, "Dudes". The production of this recording is a vast sonic improvement over their original cover version, "These Boots" which was featured on their debut album. The arrangement of the track is more reminicent of the arragement used in their live performances of the song at the time.During the tour, Mustaine and Ellefson considered firing Samuelson for his drug abuse.According to Mustaine, Samuelson had become too much to handle when intoxicated. Drummer Chuck Behler traveled with Megadeth for the last dates of the tour as the other band members feared Samuelson would not be able to continue touring.Poland occasionally quarreled with Mustaine, and was accused of selling band equipment to buy heroin.As a result, Samuelson and Poland were asked to leave Megadeth in 1987.That year, 16-year-old guitarist Jeff Loomis of Sanctuary auditioned for the band. Mustaine complimented Loomis' playing but considered him too young to join.Poland was initially replaced by Jay Reynolds of Malice, but as the band began working on its next record, Reynolds was replaced by his guitar teacher, Jeff Young, when Megadeth was six weeks into the recording of its third album. So Far,So Good...So What! (1988-89) So Far, So Good... So What! is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on January 19, 1988 through Capitol Records; a remixed and remastered edition including several bonus tracks was reissued in August 2004. It is the band's only album recorded with drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, both of whom were fired immediately after the subsequent tour. So Far, So Good... So What! features music performed at very fast tempos with technical ability; lyrically, frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine addresses a variety of topics, including nuclear holocaust and freedom of speech. The record was well received among contemporary music critics, although retrospective analysis has been less favorable. It managed to enter the top 30 on the Billboard 200 with no commercial radio play; it charted in several other countries as well. The album was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and indicated Megadeth's forthcoming emergence from the underground scene. Rust In Peace (1990-91) Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on September 24, 1990 by Capitol Records and was produced by Mike Clink. Following the departure of Jeff Young and Chuck Behler in 1989, Rust in Peace is the first album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. Rust in Peace received universal acclaim by fans and critics, and was responsible for bringing Megadeth to the attention of a mainstream metal audience. It has been cited as one of the best thrash metal records of all time by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang! and listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Grammy Awards. Two singles were released from the album: "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", which have become staples of the band's live performances. Rust in Peace features complex musical structures and lyrical themes such as nuclear war and UFOs. The album's cover art references "Hangar 18". A remixed and remastered version featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004. In 2010, the band announced a North American tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary. The performance at the Hollywood Palladium was filmed and released as Rust in Peace Live on CD, DVD and Blu-ray later that year. Countdown To Extinction (1991-92) Countdown to Extinction is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on July 6, 1992 through Capitol Records. It was the group's second studio release to feature the "classic" lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza, with all of them contributing to songwriting on the album. The album features some of the band's best known songs such as "Symphony of Destruction", "Sweating Bullets" and "Skin o' My Teeth", which enjoyed significant chart success and made great musical impact. Countdown to Extinction received positive reaction from music critics, who noted its politically oriented lyrics and simplified sound in comparison to their previous record. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number two, the band's highest position ever. It eventually achieved double platinum status and became their most commercially successful album. The record was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards, while the album's title track won the Humane Society's Genesis Award for raising awareness for animal rights issues. In 2012, in recognition of the album's 20th anniversary, Megadeth kicked off a 20th anniversary tour in South America, playing the album in its entirety. In addition, a 20th anniversary special edition of the album was released in November 2012, and a live album featuring a performance of the full album was released in September 2013.'' Youthanasia (1994-95) outhanasia is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994 through Capitol Records. The album is not a large stylistic departure from the band's earlier recordings; however it marked the continuing evolution of Megadeth, following the footsteps of the previous album Countdown to Extinction (1992). The album's title is a play on words, implying that society is euthanizing its youth. The cover art features an elderly woman hanging babies by their feet on a seemingly endless clothesline; the artwork concept was directly inspired from a line of the title track. Youthanasia received positive reviews upon its release. It was commercially successful, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum for shipping one million copies in the United States—a distinction achieved in 1995. A remixed and remastered edition featuring several bonus tracks and detailed liner notes was reissued on July 27, 2004. Cryptic Writings (1996-98) Cryptic Writings is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released on June 17, 1997 through Capitol Records, it was the band's last studio album to feature drummer Nick Menza. His departure would mark the end of the band's longest lasting lineup to date, having recorded four studio albums. Megadeth decided to produce the record with Dann Huff in Nashville, Tennessee, because they were not satisfied with their previous producer Max Norman. The album features 12 tracks with accessible song structures, specifically aimed for radio airplay. The lyrics were also altered, in order to make the music more inclusive for wider audience. These changes were met with mixed opinions from music critics, who noted the band moving away from their thrash metal roots. The album debuted at number 10 on Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping five-hundred thousand copies in the United States. The first 500,000 copies of Cryptic Writings in the U.S. were released with silver background album cover. A remixed and remastered version, featuring four bonus tracks, was released in 2004. Two years after its original release, the album sold 850,000 copies in the United States and won widespread praise from rock radio programmers. The song "Trust" was nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" at the 1998 Grammy Awards and became the band's highest charting song on the Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Risk (1999-2000) Risk is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on August 31, 1999 by Capitol Records. It is also the band's last album to be released by that label. The first Megadeth album since 1990 to feature a lineup change, Risk marks the studio debut of drummer Jimmy DeGrasso with the band, as well as the final appearance of long time guitarist Marty Friedman, who announced his departure a year later. Meant to be a breakthrough on alternative rock radio, Risk received a mixed response because of the great deviation from the band's traditional sound. The backlash ultimately resulted with the band returning towards a heavier sound with their next album. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has blamed the record's lack of success on the fact that it was released under the "Megadeth" name, "if anybody else's name was on 'Risk', it would have sold". The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold in 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping half million copies in the United States.5 As with the rest of Megadeth's studio records released by Capitol Records, the album was remixed and remastered in 2004, with several bonus tracks added. This reissue also featured a different cover. The World Needs a Hero (2000-01) The World Needs a Hero is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released in May 2001 by Sanctuary Records. After the critical and commercial failure of the previous album Risk (1999), The World Needs a Hero represented a change back to a heavier musical direction. Subsequently, the album charted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 upon release. After parting with former label Capitol Records, the album was the first of two Megadeth studio albums to be released by Sanctuary. It was the last of two studio albums to feature drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and the only one to feature Al Pitrelli on lead guitar. Furthermore, The World Needs a Hero was the last album with original bassist David Ellefson until his return to Megadeth in 2010. Additionally, mascot Vic Rattlehead appears on the cover of a Megadeth album for the first time since Rust in Peace (1990) Breakup (2002-03) In January 2002, Mustaine was hospitalized for the removal of a kidney stone and was administered pain medication that triggered a relapse of his drug addiction. Following his stay, Mustaine checked himself into a treatment center in Texas, where he suffered a peculiar injury causing severe nerve damage to his left arm.The injury, induced by falling asleep with his left arm over the back of a chair, caused compression of the radial nerve. He was diagnosed with radial neuropathy, which left him unable to grasp or even make a fist with his left hand. On April 3, Mustaine announced in a press release that he was disbanding Megadeth as his arm injury rendered him unable to play guitar.For the next four months, he had physical therapy five days a week, and slowly began to "re-teach" his left hand.To fulfill contract obligations to Sanctuary, Megadeth released the compilation album Still Alive... and Well? The first half of the album contains live tracks recorded at the Web Theatre in Phoenix, and the second half has studio recordings from The World Needs a Hero.134 Following nearly a year of recovery, including physical and electroshock therapy, Mustaine began work on what was to have been his first solo album. The new material was recorded with session musicians Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmie Lee Sloas in October 2003. The project was put on hold when Mustaine agreed to remix and remaster Megadeth's eight-album back catalog on Capitol Records,re-recording portions that were missing or altered without his knowledge in the original mixing. The System Has Failed (2004) The World Needs a Hero is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released in May 2001 by Sanctuary Records. After the critical and commercial failure of the previous album Risk (1999), The World Needs a Hero represented a change back to a heavier musical direction. Subsequently, the album charted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 upon release. After parting with former label Capitol Records, the album was the first of two Megadeth studio albums to be released by Sanctuary. It was the last of two studio albums to feature drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and the only one to feature Al Pitrelli on lead guitar. Furthermore, The World Needs a Hero was the last album with original bassist David Ellefson until his return to Megadeth in 2010. Additionally, mascot Vic Rattlehead appears on the cover of a Megadeth album for the first time since Rust in Peace (1990). Gigantour (2005-06) In mid-2005, Mustaine organized an annual heavy metal festival tour, Gigantour. Megadeth headlined the inaugural tour with acts such as Dream Theater, Nevermore, Anthrax, and Fear Factory. Performances at the Montreal and Vancouver shows were filmed and recorded for a live DVD-and-CD set released in the second quarter of 2006.On October 9, following the successes of The System Has Failed and the Blackmail the Universe world tour, Mustaine announced to a sold-out crowd at the Pepsi Music Rock Festival in Argentina that Megadeth would continue to record and tour.The concert, held at Obras Sanitarias stadium in Buenos Aires in front of 25,000 fans, was filmed and released on DVD as That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires in 2007. In February 2006, bassist James MacDonough left the band over "personal differences".He was replaced by James LoMenzo, who had worked with David Lee Roth, White Lion and Black Label Society.The new Megadeth lineup made its live debut headlining the Dubai Desert Rock Festival in the United Arab Emirates with Testament.In March, Capitol released a two-disc DVD, Arsenal of Megadeth, which included archive footage, interviews, live shows, and many of the band's music videos. Due to licensing issues, soundtrack and non-Capitol videos were not included.The second Gigantour began during the third quarter of 2006; Megadeth again headlined, this time with Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy and Overkill.The 2006 tour included three dates in Australia, supported by Soulfly, Arch Enemy and Caliban. United Abominations (2007-08) United Abominations is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released on May 8, 2007, United Abominations is the first Megadeth release distributed through Roadrunner Records, and with the exception of the band's frontman Dave Mustaine, was recorded with an all-new line-up. While touring to promote the album, guitarist Glen Drover left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by Chris Broderick, leaving this as the only Megadeth studio album to which he contributed. United Abominations was well received by critics and debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, the highest chart position for the band since 1994's Youthanasia until it was succeeded by 2013's Super Collider. Greg Prato of AllMusic stated Megadeth "sound reborn" on United Abominations. The lyrics of the album deal with politics and the state the world is in, with Ed Thompson of IGN stating the album is the band's most politically charged. The album was named the number one metal album of 2007 by Guitar World. Endgame (2009-10) Endgame is the twelfth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on September 9, 2009 through Roadrunner Records and was produced by Dave Mustaine and Andy Sneap. Endgame was the first album to feature guitarist Chris Broderick, following Glen Drover's departure in 2008, and was the band's last studio album with bassist James LoMenzo; original bassist David Ellefson rejoined the band several months after the album's release. There are eleven tracks on the album, with lyrics inspired by subjects ranging from The Lord of the Rings and the financial crisis of 2007–08, to insanity, torture and crime. Two singles were released from the album: "Head Crusher" and "The Right to Go Insane"; the former was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Endgame entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, and reached number one on the U.S. Top Hard Rock Albums chart. As of April 2011 it has sold about 150,000 copies in the U.S.The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and was thought to continue the success of the band's previous album, United Abominations (2007). Thirteen (2010-12) Thirteen (stylized as TH1RT3EN) is the thirteenth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released worldwide on November 1, 2011, by Roadrunner Records, although the album was released on October 26, 2011 for Japan. Thirteen is the first Megadeth studio album since The World Needs a Hero (2001) to feature bassist and founding member David Ellefson, who returned to the band in 2010. Thirteen debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week. The album broke into the top 20 in several other markets as well. It has sold about 120,000 copies in the United States as of December 2012. The album has received largely positive reviews from critics. The album followed the successful Endgame, released two years previously, and was recorded in late spring 2011. In addition to new material was written for the album, the band decided to rework and release several older songs, some of which had previously seen release as demos or bonus tracks. Additionally, several of the songs on the album were intended to appear on video game soundtracks, notably "Sudden Death", which appeared as a playable song in the 2010 video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The lead single from Thirteen was the Al Capone-inspired "Public Enemy No. 1". This was followed by "Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)" about a month later. "Sudden Death" was released as a single prior to the announcement of Thirteen to promote Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, but was later included on the album. All three songs received Grammy Award nominations, in the "Best Metal Performance" or "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" categories. Super Collider (2012-Present) Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on June 4, 2013, and is Megadeth's first album to be released on Tradecraft, a Universal label created for frontman Dave Mustaine. In the U.S., a special edition of the album was made available exclusively through Best Buy retailers. The album features a guest appearance from Disturbed and Device vocalist David Draiman. On April 23, 2013, the title track was released on iTunes as the album's lead single. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, making it the band's highest-charting album since 1994's Youthanasia. As of March 2014, Super Collider has sold over 80,000 copies in the United States. The album received a largely negative response from critics and, as of August 2014, has a Metacritic rating of 41/100. It is the band's final album to feature drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick, due to their departures from Megadeth in November 2014. Controversies Mustaine has made numerous inflammatory statements in the press,usually regarding issues with former Metallica bandmates. The feud stemmed from his ejection from the band, how it was conducted, and disagreements on songwriting credits.Mustaine expressed his anger in the movie Some Kind of Monster,in a scene he later disapproved of as he felt he was mischaracterized, and that it did not represent the full extent of what happened during the meeting. During a live performance of "Anarchy in the U.K." at a 1988 show in Antrim, Northern Ireland, Mustaine drunkenly and confusedly dedicated the song to "the cause" of "giving Ireland back to the Irish!"1 Before the final song, Mustaine said, "This one's for the cause!"This elicited a riot and fighting between Catholics and Protestants among the audience. The band had to travel in a bulletproof bus for the remainder of the tour of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.Mustaine later said that he had been misled by T-shirt bootleggers about the meaning of the expression "the cause". This incident served as inspiration for the song "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due". Controversial and misinterpreted lyrics have caused complications for the band. In 1988, MTV deemed that the song "In My Darkest Hour" encouraged suicide and banned the video.The station banned the video for "À Tout le Monde" for the same reason, though Mustaine said the song was written from the perspective of a dying man saying his last words to his loved ones.According to him, MTV considered the videos for "Skin o' My Teeth" and "Symphony of Destruction" a "little bit too harsh" and refused to play them as well. During a world tour in 2001, the Malaysian government canceled the band's show in the nation's capital because the authorities had a negative perception of the group's image and music.The government pointed to the band's mascot Vic Rattlehead as being inappropriate and told the members that they would be arrested if they performed.Dave Mustaine responded: "I recognize what the Malaysian government is trying to do, and it is admirable of them trying to protect the young people in the country. But it just shows the degree of ignorance and apathy that the government has toward the problem." In July 2004, Ellefson sued Mustaine for $18.5 million in Manhattan Federal Court. Ellefson alleged that Mustaine short-changed him on profits including tour merchandise and publishing royalties.The suit was dismissed in 2005, and Mustaine filed a countersuit alleging that Ellefson had used the band's name in an advertisement for musical equipment;the suit was settled out of court. In 2003, after recovering from an arm injury that threatened to end his career, Mustaine became a born-again Christian.Minor controversy was sparked by Mustaine's announcement that Megadeth would not play certain songs live due to his new identification as a Christian.In May 2005, Mustaine allegedly threatened to cancel shows in Greece and Israel with extreme metal bands Rotting Christ and Dissection due to the bands' anti-Christian beliefs. This caused the two bands to cancel appearances. Artistry Influences And Style Traditional heavy metal bands such as UFO and Black Sabbath, New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands such as Motörhead, Iron Maiden, and Diamond Head, and punk rock bands such as the Sex Pistols and Ramones had a significant influence on Megadeth's sound. Hard rock bands such as AC/DC andLed Zeppelin were also influential on the group's guitar style. Although the music has roots in punk,university professor Jason Bivins wrote that Megadeth followed the basic blueprint of Motörhead and Iron Maiden. He described the style as a mix of "the instrumental virtuosity of the NWOBHM with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk", while also drawing lyrical inspiration from the horror-obsessed punk band Misfits.Mustaine has also listed albums by the Beatles as recordings that influenced him. Mustaine is the band's primary songwriter. He develops songs starting with a particular riff that, with modifications, becomes the central part of the song. He has said that song fragments are composed separately, and then the band makes a compact structure from them.Drummer Shawn Drover stated that Mustaine had saved many riffs over the years and that some recent material is based on those demo recordings.Ellefson stated that the band constantly creates new material, and that making a recording begins with exchanging ideas after which the band enters the studio and discusses the concept, direction, artwork, and song titles.The lyrics are usually written after the music is arranged.Discussing the band's lyrics, Mustaine said that many of the themes are derived from literature, such as the novels of George Orwell. The music of Megadeth and its underground metal contemporaries from the 1980s featured harsh vocals, double bass drum patterns, staccato riffing, tremolo picking, and screeching lead guitar work; albums from this period were produced on low budgets.After forming Megadeth, Mustaine followed the thrash metal style of his previous band, Metallica, with more emphasis on speed and intensity.Megadeth's music is characterized by its neat instrumental performance, featuring fast rhythm sections, complex arrangements, and "snarling" vocals.When asked to describe Megadeth's guitar style, Mustaine answered: "When you go to a show and see a guitar player who just stands there, that's a guitar player. A thrash guitar player is a guy who plays like he wants to beat the guitar's guts out."Most of the songs are recorded in standard guitar tuning as Mustaine believes it to provide a superior melody to alternative methods of tuning. During the band's early days, Mustaine was the rhythm guitarist, while Chris Poland played lead. Although Poland performed only on Megadeth's first two albums, music journalists Pete Prown and Harvey P. Newquist credit him with making the music more colorful because of his jazz influences.According to former Metal Maniacs editor Jeff Wagner, the band's songwriting techniques peaked with the fourth album, Rust in Peace, which he described as a "flurry of precision and fluidity, making good on Megadeth's claim to being the world's state-of-the-art speed metal band".Musicologist Glenn Pillsbury stated the guitar work on the album was a mixture of Mustaine's "controlled chaos" and the "technical brilliance" of Marty Friedman.Studio efforts released in the mid- and late 1990s featured songs with compact structures and less complicated riffing. Megadeth's lyrics often focus on death, war, politics, and religion.The lyricism centers on nihilistic themes, but occasionally deals with topics such as alienation and social problems.The earliest releases featured themes such as occultism, graphic violence, and Satanism.Nuclear warfare and government conspiracy were preoccupations on albums such as Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction.During Megadeth's commercial peak, Mustaine elaborated on more personal themes such as addiction and intimate relationships. For the lyrics on Cryptic Writings, Mustaine said that he wanted to write songs that had more appeal to a wider audience.The title of United Abominations is a satiric play on the name of the United Nations; Mustaine criticized the organization's ineffectiveness on a number of songs on that album.Later albums contained lyrics in a similar vein Legacy Having sold over 50 million units worldwide as of 2014,Megadeth is one of the few bands from the 1980s American underground metal scene to have achieved mass commercial success.Along with contemporaries Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, Megadeth is regarded as one of the core founding groups of thrash metal.These bands are often referred to as the "big four" of thrash metal,responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Loudwire ranked Megadeth the third best thrash metal band of all time, praising the group's "provoking lyrics and mind-warping virtuosity".CMJ New Music Report called the band's debut album a seminal release and a representative of "the golden age of speed metal".264 Similarly, Billboard called the band's second album Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? a "landmark of the thrash movement" whose lyrics it found still relevant.MTV also recognized the band as an influential metal act, highlighting the technical aspect of the early albums. Megadeth is considered one of the most musically influential groups that originated in the 1980s.As part of the early American thrash metal movement, the band's music was a direct influence on death metal.Sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris wrote that the mainstream success of Megadeth was one of the reasons for the expansion of extreme metal to countries where it had previously been unknown.The band's sound and album artwork influenced a number of thrash metal bands in the 21st century,including Toxic Holocaust and Warbringer.According to Nielsen SoundScan, Megadeth has sold 9.2 million copies of its albums in the United States between 1991 and 2014. Awards For a more comprehensive list, see List of awards and nominations received by Megadeth. Genesis Awards: 1993: Doris Day Music Award – Countdown to Extinction Loudwire Music Awards: 2011: Metal Album of the Year – Thirteen 2011: Metal Song of the Year – "Public Enemy No. 1" Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards: 2007: Riff Lord – Dave Mustaine Revolver Golden Gods Awards: 2009: Golden God – Dave Mustaine Members (For More Details On This Topic,see:List Of Megadeth Band Members) Current Members Dave Mustaine David Ellefson